Are the baja decks very private on their balconies? Can't wait -yeah, going to Mexicoooooooo!!! Need to shed some of these layers of rust. Only 2 months to go.

CA Cruiser

February 20th, 2006 02:45 AM

Live from the Sapphire....No, the Baja decks are not private. No one can see down into it but the people on the Caribe decks and Dolphin decks can look up at you. We are in a Caribe cabin and our balconies are half and half. The Aloha and Baja decks can look down onto part of our balcony but half is private.

jillarich

February 20th, 2006 04:11 PM

Oh well... We just booked our 2nd cruise on the Sapphire. Our 1st cruise was with HAL Staatendam to Alaska and we loved it. Probably the best vacation we ever had. Excellent food, service ports and people. We had no complaints. It was really tough to break away from what worked but we reaally want to try Princess and others so we will know for ourselves. I have been looking through Sapphires deck cam and see your on your way to Puerto Vallarta out in the open seas. How does she ride? I have heard that for some reason the Sapphires class of boats really rock n roll. But that could just be for the sensitive folks-which we are not. We had smooth sailing on our AK cruise except for maybe 8 hours out in the Gulf Of Alaska. Hows the service and food so far? It seems to me that whichever line you go with there is a certain "luck of the draw" at play. Don't know how one accounts for that when choosing a line - but thats just part of the deal I guess. Although I have never read a bad review on Celebrity or Crystal. We booked our Mex cruise for $900.00 buck each so I can't complain. Hows the temperature right now? At what point do you notice it getting warmer after leaving Longbeach? Is it warm by the next morning so you can start tanning and swimming?-Thanks

Harry Martin

February 21st, 2006 02:21 PM

The first day at sea is a little on the chilly side (68 or so) but the second day is wonderful as you pass Cabo.

There was another big post on the Sapphire just recently, so scroll down for it to answer your other questions.

Harry

Marguerite

February 21st, 2006 08:05 PM

This is our 1st princess Cruise & we are nervous! Also doing the Mexican Riviera Our last 2 cruises were on Holland America & absolutely loved that line! We have a mini suite, dolphin deck. Any words of encouragement???? The time is drawing near!!
Marg

jillarich

February 21st, 2006 09:02 PM

Marguerite: Please give me a review when your done. As a fellow HAL person you are obligated to let me know-as you are going with princess before us. Seriously, we would love to hear your thoughts. When do you go? We go April 22, 2006. Sure is cool hearing from someone that is currently on the ship in this thread huh? Hope you have a great time. I can't imagine that it would be bad. Heck, for us just being on a boat headed to mexico is enough. Anything beyond that we consider a bonus. We are not fussy or hard to please and not easily bored. But, HAL definitely set a benchmark for us as we were treated so well and loved the food too. We ate 4 dinners at the Pinnacle we liked it so well. truley the farthest we have ever seen $20.00 go. Sitting there looking at the glacier, otters, whales and sea Lions didnt hurt either. Our cruise to Alaska in June 2004 was tropical like in that it was sunny every day and in the 80's. The pools were populated as if we were in Mexico. In fact, I believe there were some weather records set in Alaska that Month/year. We almost booked AK again this year it was so awesome. We have friends up in Anchorage and they say June is definitely the best summer month year in and year out weather wise. But we NEED to go sooner....so its meixco!

Harry Martin

February 22nd, 2006 01:57 PM

Marg, we love the mini-suites!

Here are detailed photos of ours on the Dolphin deck on Diamond (which is identical)

Just back from the Sapphire. It was a very smooth cruise. It was cold and windy the first day out and started getting warmer our 2nd sea day. We stayed on board in PV (we've done this itinerary many times) and we had the 2 jacuzzis and pool in the back all to ourselves for over 3 hours. Mazatlan we did the Pacifico Brewery tour and like it, must wear pants. They had nice t-shirts from $3 to $5. We bought 2 cases of beer; Pacifico and Coronas, and when we checked in we were ready to have them store it for us and they just looked at us and said No, you have to take it to your cabin!!! Again, stayed on the ship in Cabo and enjoyed a very quiet ship. Met many who did the Canapy tours, horseback riding, ATV's and loved them all.

Our cabin on Caribbe was nice. I did like the half covered/half open large balcony. Many ppl on the Dolphin decks were disappointed because they were totally open balconies.

The service was good. We had a nice cabin attendant who we enjoyed getting to know. He is going home in 2 weeks to Romania. If you do Any Time Dining, try to get Rommel in the Sante Fe, Manuel in the Pacific Moon and Ricky in the Savoy. Each dining room has the same menu as Traditional dining but offers a unique specialty. Fajitas, Chicken Chinese noodle dish or pork chop in the restaurants listed above in order. But I found out you can ask for any of them at any restaurant. The NY cheese cake was surprisely good. The Horizon Court is still very unorganized and no flow. It really brings out the rudeness in ppl...lol...Many people asked to share tables and were told no...seeing that, we made sure to sit on one side and look for others in need.

One of the biggest complaints we heard was the Bingo. Attendance was great but they only offered $100 for the 1st 2 games, then $125, $175 and $500. Even on the last day, over 1000 played at $20 or $30 each and they still had the same prize amounts.

Soda card was the lowest we have seen...$3.95/day or $27.65/week. They also had a Capicino (sp) card but it was only for 15 drinks at a small discount price.

We arrived at the port at 10:30 am then on board at 11:45am. The earliest ever. We were surpized Platinum members don't have priority disembarkment but they did have a nice room and food for us.